The Stakes

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Latest Episodes:

There Goes the Neighborhood: Miami, Part 3 Nov 07, 2019

Haitian migrants fled a violent dictatorship and built a new community in Miami’s Little Haiti, far from the coast and on land that luxury developers didn’t want. But with demand for up-market apartments surging, their neighborhood is suddenly attractive to builders. That’s in part because it sits on high ground, in a town concerned about sea level rise. But also, because Miami is simply running out of land to build upon.

In the final episode of our series on “climate gentrification,” WLRN reporter Nadege Greene asks one man what it’s like to be in the path of a land rush. Before you listen, check out parts one and two.

In this episode, we hear from:

- Louis Rosemont, artist in Little Haiti

- Carl Juste, photojournalist for the Miami Herald

- Ned Murray of Florida International University

- Greg West, CEO of Zom Living development firm

- Jane Gilbert, Chief Resilience Officer for the City of Miami

Reported and produced by Kai Wright, and Nadege Green. This is the final installment of a three-part series produced in partnership with WLRN in Miami. WNYC’s health coverage is supported in part by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Working to build a Culture of Health that ensures everyone in America has a fair and just opportunity for health and well-being. More at RWJF.org.

There Goes the Neighborhood: Miami, Part 2 Nov 06, 2019

Valencia Gunder used to dismiss her grandfather’s warnings: “They’re gonna steal our communities because it don't flood.” She thought, Who would want this place? But Valencia’s grandfather knew something she didn’t: People in black Miami have seen this before.

In the second episode of our series on “climate gentrification,” reporter Christopher Johnson tells the story of Overtown, a segregated black community that was moved, en masse, because the city wanted the space for something else. If you haven't heard part one, start there first.

In this episode, we also hear from:

- Agnes and Naomi Rolles, childhood residents of Overtown

- Marvin Dunn, researcher at Florida International University

- James Munchin, co-founder of The Roots Collective

Reported and produced by Kai Wright, Nadege Green and Christopher Johnson. This is part two of a three-part series produced in partnership with WLRN in Miami. WNYC’s health coverage is supported in part by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Working to build a Culture of Health that ensures everyone in America has a fair and just opportunity for health and well-being. More at RWJF.org.

There Goes the Neighborhood: Miami, Part 1 Nov 05, 2019

process that may intensify the affordability crisis in cities all over the country.

Little Haiti sits on high ground, in a city that’s facing increasing pressure from rising sea levels and monster storms. For years, researchers at Harvard University’s Design School have been trying to identify if and how the changing climate will reshape the real estate market globally. In Miami’s Little Haiti, they have found an ideal case study for what’s been dubbed “climate gentrification.”

We hear from:

- Jesse Keenan, Harvard University Graduate School of Design

- Mimi Sanon-Jules, entrepreneur in Little Haiti

Reported and produced by Kai Wright, Nadege Green and Christopher Johnson. This is part one of a three-part series produced in partnership with WLRN in Miami. WNYC’s health coverage is supported in part by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Working to build a Culture of Health that ensures everyone in America has a fair and just opportunity for health and well-being. More at RWJF.org.

The Next Debt Crisis That No One's Talking About Oct 29, 2019

An ambitious young immigrant needs a car and ends up with a loan he can’t afford. His lender, Credit Acceptance, specializes in subprime car loans -- lending to people with poor credit at exorbitant interest rates. Reporter Anjali Kamat tells the story of one man’s journey with his Credit Acceptance loan from a used car lot to a courtroom, and traces how, a decade after subprime mortgages brought down the economy, subprime car loans remain a favorite on Wall Street.

We hear from:

- Shanna Tallarico, Consumer Debt Attorney at New York Legal Assistance Group

- Michael Barr, Dean of Gerald R Ford School of Public Policy at University of Michigan and former Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions at the Department of Treasury

This report was produced with support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting as part of a collaboration between APM Reports, KCUR in Kansas City, KPCC in Southern California, WABE in Atlanta and WNYC.

Denial at the Trump Hotel Sep 18, 2019

It's becoming harder and harder to deny that the Earth is warming. But climate change skeptics not only have a plan for how to keep the public arguing about the validity of the science, they also have the ear of the most powerful person on the planet. Reporter Amanda Aronczyk goes inside the Trump International Hotel in Washington to attend one of the largest gatherings of climate deniers in the country and discovers that their strategy could work.

This is the story of the origin and future of climate change skepticism.

Hosted by Kai Wright. Reported by Amanda Aronczyk. Edited by Christopher Werth.

White Like Me Sep 03, 2019

Whiteness, as an idea and as an identity, is not as fixed as many people believe. Over the centuries, Western societies have defined and redefined it. But always, it has served to delineate who gets access to rights and privileges, and who doesn't. In this episode, we meet an Italian American family as they reflect on a time when they weren't yet white in America, and consider how that changed. And we explore the role white identity politics have always played in American elections.

We hear from:

- Chris Arnade, author of Dignity: Seeking Respect in Back Row America

- Nell Irvin Painter, author of The History of White People

- Joshua Freeman, Distinguished Professor of History at CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies and author of Behemoth: A History of the Factory and the Making of the Modern World

- Fred Gardaphe, Distinguished Professor of Italian American Studies at Queens College

Hosted by Kai Wright. Produced by Joseph Capriglione.

A History of Persuasion: Part 3 Aug 13, 2019

Silicon Valley’s so-called “millionaire maker” is a behavioral scientist who foresaw the power of putting persuasion at the heart of the tech world’s business model. But behind the curtain of the industry’s behemoth companies is a cadre of engineers and executives small enough to rein in. This is the final installment of our three-part series. If you haven't heard parts one and two, start there first.

In this episode, we hear from:

- Alexandra Rutherford, Professor in the Department of Psychology at York University in Toronto andauthor of Beyond the Box: B.F. Skinner's Technology of Behaviour from Laboratory to Life, 1950s-1970s

- Ian Leslie, author of “The Scientists Who Make Apps Addictive”

- B.J. Fogg, Director of the Stanford University "Behavior Design Lab”

- Tristan Harris, Co-Founder & Executive Director of the Center for Humane Technology

- Dorothy Glancy, Professor of Law at Santa Clara University

- Senator Mark Warner of Virginia

Hosted by Kai Wright. Reported by Amanda Aronczyk.

A History of Persuasion: Part 2 Aug 08, 2019

Ted Kaczynski had been a boy genius. Then he became the Unabomber. After years of searching for him, the FBI finally caught him in his remote Montana cabin, along with thousands of pages of his writing. Those pages revealed Kaczynski's hatred towards a field of psychology called "behaviorism," the key to the link between him and James McConnell.

This is part two of our three-part series. If you haven't heard part one, listen here first.

In this episode, we hear from:

- Philip Bradley, Harvard contemporary of Ted Kaczynski

- Alston Chase, author of A Mind for Murder: The Education of the Unabomber and the Origins of Modern Terrorism

- Donald Max Noel, former FBI agent and author of UNABOMBER: How the FBI Broke Its Own Rules to Capture the Terrorist Ted Kaczynski

- Chuck Seigerman, former student of James McConnell

- Greg Stejskal, former FBI agent

- Larry Stern, Professor of Sociology at Collin College

Hosted by Kai Wright. Reported by Amanda Aronczyk.

WNYC’s health coverage and The Stakes is supported in part by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Jane and Gerald Katcher and the Katcher Family Foundation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Thank you to Lizette Royer Barton at the Center for the History of Psychology and Diana Bachman at the Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan. Special thanks to Larry Stern, Professor of Sociology at Collin College and to Alexandra Rutherford, Professor in the Department of Psychology at York University in Toronto and author of Beyond the Box: B.F. Skinner's Technology of Behaviour from Laboratory to Life, 1950s-1970s.

A History of Persuasion: Part 1 Jul 30, 2019

Infinite scrolling. Push notifications. Autoplay. Our devices and apps were designed to keep us engaged and looking for as long as possible. Now, we’ve woken up from years on social media and our phones to discover we've been manipulated by unaccountable powers using persuasive psychological tricks. But this isn’t the first time.

In this three-part series of The Stakes, we look at the winding story of the science of persuasion -- and our collective reaction to it. In this episode: A once-famous psychologist who became embroiled in controversy, and how the Unabomber tried to kill him. Already heard this one? Continue to part two.

We hear from:

- Larry Stern, Professor of Sociology at Collin College

- Nicklaus Suino, writer, martial arts expert, attorney and business consultant

Hosted by Kai Wright. Reported by Amanda Aronczyk.

WNYC’s health coverage and The Stakes is supported in part by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Jane and Gerald Katcher and the Katcher Family Foundation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Thanks to Lizette Royer Barton at the Center for the History of Psychology and Diana Bachman at the Bentley Historical Library at the University of Michigan for the use of the educational films “Battle for the Mind” and “Heads and/or Tails” featuring psychologist James McConnell.

The Invention of 'Sexual Harassment' Jul 16, 2019

If you want to change the law, you have to name the problem. That's why, in 1975, five to eight women in a room in Ithaca, New York came up with two words that changed the law, and the workplace, forever. But as you'll hear, victory really has a thousand mothers.

You'll hear from:

- Linda Hirschman, author of Reckoning: The Epic Battle Against Sexual Abuse and Harassment

- Susan Meyer, a founder of Working Women United

- Faith Hochberg, former Federal Judge

Hosted by Kai Wright. Produced by Jessica Miller.

Editing Thomas Jefferson Jul 02, 2019

The Declaration of Independence was America’s first act of social design. The men who drafted America’s founding document recognized the tension between their ideals of liberty and the realities of the nation's slave economy. But they couldn’t deal with that tension, so they chose to avoid it. A generation later, in a July 5, 1852, speech in Rochester, Frederick Douglass delivered one of history's most stirring oratorical responses to the contradictions embedded in the Declaration. In this episode, reporter Jim O'Grady visits the New York Public Library to check out Thomas Jefferson’s handwritten copy of his early draft of the Declaration, and considers how the document shaped today’s society. Then, we hear excerpts of Douglass’s famous speech.

Plus, we bake a pie (literally), meditate on the stories we tell ourselves, and hear from The Stakes' listeners.

The Abortion Clinic That Won't Go Quietly Jun 18, 2019

Host of The Stakes Kai Wright visits the Alabama Women's Center, one of three remaining abortion providers in the state—and the sole provider within 150 miles. Alabama passed the nation's most restrictive abortion law in May—a law that would make the providers at this clinic into felons. It was one of a dozen states that have passed new abortion restrictions already this year. But from the vantage of the Alabama Women's Center, the story of abortion access in 2019 is revealed to be the story of gerrymandering in 2010. More than a third of all restrictions placed on abortion have been put in place since that election.

Also, producer Jessica Miller investigates a clinical trial that would safely bring abortion care into a patient's home, expanding access across the country.

We speak to:

- Dr. Yashica Robinson and nurse LaShonda Pinchon of the Alabama Women's Center

- Michael Li of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University

- Rep. Laura Hall, Alabama statehouse

- Melissa Grant, Carafem COO participating in Gynuity's clinical trial

WNYC’s health coverage and The Stakes is supported in part by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Jane and Gerald Katcher and the Katcher Family Foundation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

We’re Here. We’re Fluid. Get Used To It. Jun 04, 2019

In honor of Stonewall’s 50th anniversary, it’s time for an intergenerational queer conversation. Kristin Tomlinson is a gender fluid, pansexual 21-year-old. She takes Kai into her very fluid online and IRL world of cartoon cats in crop tops, Instagram icons and friends who see gender as just another construct. Along the way, we look at the meaning of labels and categories for youth today and whether they’re necessary to create and claim political and social space in the LGBTQ community.

We also hear from:

- Pose actor Bhawk Snipes

- Paulette Thomas-Martin, teaching artist at SAGE Center Harlem, Vice-President of HarlemYes, Inc.

Hosted by Kai Wright. Reported by Kristin Tomlinson. Produced by Jonna McKone.

Radio Rookies is supported in part by the Margaret Neubart Foundation and The Pinkerton Foundation.

To Be Young, Conscious and Rap May 21, 2019

Drug wars, recessions and record violence in the 1980s had US cities in crisis. Hip hop artists responded by shifting from party music to a new style called "conscious rap." Artists like Public Enemy and Digable Planets championed a sound that was political, community-minded and deeply pro-black. But about six years after it started, that first wave of socially-conscious hip hop seemed to be over. Who killed it? And what’s the story of its rise and fall tell us about the relationship between culture, politics, and commerce?

We speak to:

- Rapper Kool Moe Dee

- Writer and filmmaker Nelson George

- Dan Charnas, author of The Big Payback

- Ann Carli, former hip hop record executive

Listen to the songs from this episode here.

Hosted by Kai Wright. Reported by Christopher Johnson.

Giving Birth While Black May 07, 2019

A black woman in America is three to four times more likely to die than a white woman during pregnancy, childbirth, and in the year after the baby's born, according to the Centers for Disease Control. As more and more black women share their near death experiences while giving birth, including world tennis champion Serena Williams, we see this reality affecting black woman regardless of education or wealth. So what are black women supposed to do with this information as they think about pregnancy? And what’s being done in the medical field to change it? In a deeply personal search for answers, producer Veralyn Williams talks with celebrated author Tressie McMillan Cottom, with black women in her own life and with Doctor Deborah Cohan, a white OB-GYN from the Bay Area who is confronting her own implicit bias.

We also speak to:

- Helena Grant, Director of Midwifery, Woodhull Hospital

- Leeann Rizk, Associate Director of Community Organizing, Planned Parenthood

- Linda Villarosa, New York Times Magazine contributor and Program Director of the journalism program at the City College of New York.

- Wendy Willcox, Chairman, OB-GYN, Woodhull Hospital

WNYC’s health coverage and The Stakes is supported in part by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Jane and Gerald Katcher and the Katcher Family Foundation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

A Conversation with Eric Holder, Jr. Apr 30, 2019

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said "the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." Former US Attorney General Eric Holder, Jr. told us that that only happens when people put their hands on that arc and pull on it. He joins host Kai Wright and a live audience to discuss the Mueller Report, voting rights, the state of democracy in America and whether or not we should have faith in our national institutions.

The People vs. Dutch Boy Lead Apr 23, 2019

One of the longest-running public health epidemics in American history involves a handful of baby teeth, a creepy cartoon character and The Young Lords. This is a story about a fight for accountability.

Hosted by Kai Wright. Reported by Christopher Werth.

Support for WNYC reporting on lead is provided by the New York State Health Foundation, improving the health of all New Yorkers, especially the most vulnerable. Learn more at www.nyshealth.org. Additional support for WNYC’s health coverage is provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Jane and Gerald Katcher and the Katcher Family Foundation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

The System is Broken. But That Means We Can Fix it. Apr 03, 2019

Coming up on The Stakes podcast, host Kai Wright and team identify what's not working about our society and imagine ways to fix it. From healthcare to climate change, from the music we consume to the food that we eat, everything we experience is the result of some rule, decision or system that someone put in place. That means that if we don't like the world we live in now, we can design a better one. And we have to. From the people who brought you Caught, There Goes the Neighborhood and The United States of Anxiety.

Follow Kai on Twitter at @kai_wright.

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